11 Smart and Inexpensive Fall Decorating Ideas

Discover 10 budget-friendly and creative fall decorating ideas to enhance the look of your fall home without overspending. From DIY crafts to using nature’s treasures, find economical ways to decorate your home with warm colors, cozy textures, and seasonal accents. Get inspired and create a cozy autumn decor on a budget.

Fall is in the air, and it’s time to bring that cozy and inviting feeling into your home. But you don’t have to break the bank to create a warm and stylish fall home. With a little creativity and some budget-friendly ideas, you can easily transform your home. From DIY crafts to simple decor swaps, we’ve got you covered with 10 budget-friendly fall decorating ideas to use in your home this season.

We are not talking about cheap fall decor that is not very well made and will not be long-lasting. We are talking about inexpensive decor. Items that last from year to year or are a buy for the fall beauty they add to our homes.

Today’s post is full of smart fall inspiration, so grab a pumpkin spice latte, and let’s begin!

Keep Fall Dcor Simple

Keeping fall decor simple is a wise approach, especially when watching our budget. By embracing a Less Is Best approach, we can create a warm fall home without overspending on elaborate decorations.

No longer do we dump lots of fall decor on every surface of our homes. The buzzword for fall decorating this year is simple!

Ultimately, focusing on simplicity in fall decor reminds us to appreciate the inherent beauty of the season without compromising our finances.

Choose A Fall Color Palette

Choosing a color palette for fall is a smart and economical decision that can bring cohesiveness and harmony to your home decor.

By sticking to a specific range of warm, earthy hues like deep oranges, rich browns, and golden yellows, you can easily coordinate various fall elements without having to buy entirely new decorations each year. Choosing a fall color scheme allows you to repurpose items from previous fall seasons, making the most of what you already have and reducing unnecessary spending.

Selecting a fall color palette is as simple as complementing your home’s existing color palette with a few cozy, fall-inspired shades.

A well-thought-out color scheme embraces the essence of autumn, creating a welcoming and cozy atmosphere without overdecorating for the season. Choosing a color palette for fall not only saves money but also encourages creativity in finding innovative ways to use the same fall decor in different ways, giving your home a unique and personal look every year.

Use What You Have

Using what you have to decorate for fall comes with numerous benefits that go beyond saving money.

It gets our creative juices flowing by encouraging us to be resourceful and think outside of the box to find new and innovative ways to repurpose existing items. Using familiar and sentimental items adds a personal touch to fall decor, creating a warm and nostalgic atmosphere. It allows us to cherish and showcase the things we love, sparking conversations and memories with family and friends.

Ultimately, using what you have to decorate for fall not only leads to a more budget-friendly approach but also fosters a sense of creativity and adds those things we love to our homes.

Bring The Outdoors Inside

Bringing the outdoors inside is another economical and smart way to decorate for fall. Incorporating natural elements such as colorful leaves, pinecones, branches, and seasonal fruits like apples and pears adds a touch of autumnal beauty to our living spaces without breaking the bank.

These elements are often readily available right outside our door or can be collected during walks, making them budget-friendly alternatives to expensive store-bought decorations. And using nature-inspired decor perfectly captures the feeling of the season.

Economical things you can find outdoors are:

• Acorns: Debug acorns and put them in a little bowl for a pretty and simple fall decoration.
• Pinecones: Pinecones make great filler for the bottom of dough bowls or other large bowls you want to fill with gourds, pumpkins, corn, and other rustic fall decor. Or use them as part of a Fall Centerpiece.
• Sticks And Twigs: Use sticks and twigs in a vase of fresh or faux mums and other flowers. Also, use them in a fall wreath. They will add texture and interest.
• Leaves: Fall leaves are a treasure! Their beautiful saturated color can be tucked into fall arrangments, made into a fall garland, or tied onto a tall candle to make an easy DIY fall decoration. See how to preserve leaves here. It’s an easy fall craft.
• Mums: These fall flowers are usually very inexpensive! Choose potted mums that have both blooms and buds on the plant. Using mums indoors is a wonderful, inexpensive way to decorate for fall.

Caring For Indoor Mums is a post with tried and true tips that will help you care for mums keeps mums healthy for up to 4 weeks!

5 Beautiful Organics To Transition From Late Summer To Early Fall is a must-read! It’s loaded with easy and beautiful fall ideas!

Fall Is In The Air

Fall candles and diffusers are essential additions to our homes during the autumn season. Not only for their delightful fragrance but also for their beautiful ambiance. As the weather cools down, these scented products infuse our living spaces with the comforting aromas of pumpkin spice, apple cider, and warm vanilla.

Opting for candles and diffusers is economical because they provide fragrances that can last throughout the season. With their ability to evoke familiar, cozy fall feelings and create a golden ambiance, fall candles and diffusers embrace the spirit of the season in our homes.

You can even create your own special blend of fall aromas by making simmering potpourri. I like to simmer cinnamon sticks, cloves, a tsp of vanilla, cranberries, orange and lemon peels, and apples. I save my peels and use them in my signature potpourri.

Stock Up On Fall Organics

Using faux large pumpkins and mini pumpkins, gourds, and other fall organics is a savvy money-saving strategy that allows us to enjoy the beauty of the season without breaking the bank.

Unlike real pumpkins and gourds, which can be costly if you buy a lot and have a limited shelf life, their faux counterparts are a one-time investment that can be reused year after year. By opting for high-quality faux decorations, we can actually save money over time!

Goog-quality, artificial pumpkins look remarkably realistic and can be almost indistinguishable from the real thing, making them a durable alternative. One big plus about faux pumpkins and gourds is they will not go bad, ensuring their longevity and preserving their just-picked look from the time you start to decorate for fall through Halloween until Thanksgiving. Choosing beautiful real, looking faux organics offers an economical way to celebrate autumn without compromising on style or spending too much money!

Let’s change gears for a minute. Using real fall pumpkins, gourds, and other real organics sparingly with faux organics will make the faux items look even better and still keep your fall decorating budget intact! So grab a pumpkin or two and a handful of gourds and use them mixed in with your faux fall decor! To keep your real deal pumpkin investment staying fresh longer, you might like to read 8 Tips For Keeping Pumpins Fresh.

Create A Cozy Atmosphere With Throw Pillows and Decorative Throw Blankets

Using cozy fall pillows and throw blankets is a budget-friendly way to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in our homes during the autumn season. These seasonal accessories instantly update the look and feel of a room. And if you choose pillows and throws to work with the decor you already have, they can be used from year to year. This is a wise investment! Which also makes it smart!

Be judicious when you choose fall pillows and throws. Choose them in luscious colors and materials that just give a nod to the season. Mix them with neutral and/or highly textural pillows you can use other times of the year too. This is a money-saver!

Fall pillows and throw blankets add a touch of coziness and charm to our living spaces, allowing us to add the visual coziness of the season to our homes without breaking the bank.

Use Texture

Texture plays a crucial role in creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere in our homes during the fall season. As the weather turns cooler, incorporating various textures adds depth and visual interest to our living spaces. And makes is inviting!

Highly textural textiles, like burlap, fur, and wool, give us a sense of warmth and comfort, making our homes feel like a snug retreat from the chilly outdoors. Combining these elements with other textures like those found in baskets and reflective metals like burnished copper or brass. The interplay and juxtaposition of different textures create a tactile experience, making our homes feel inviting, beautiful, and comforting during the fall.

Make It Yourself

My favorite way to save money when it comes to home decor is to make something myself. And fall is the perfect season to create a project or two or three! Every year I try my hand at a few new DIY fall decorations!

Opting for DIY fall decor is a smart and budget-friendly choice for adding a personal touch to your home during the autumn season. By creating your own decorations, you can customize them to suit your style while using affordable materials or repurposing items you already have.

Whether you’re crafting wreaths, painting pumpkins, or designing table centerpieces, DIY decorations infuse your living spaces with a unique and one-of-a-kind look. Making your own fall decor can also be a fun and rewarding experience!

You might like to make a wreath or a front door basket. Here are 5 Easy Fall Front Door Decorations that will look seasonal and festive on your front door and make your front porch look so inviting!

And here are more of my favorite fall DIYs…

• 10-Minute Decor: Fall Leaf Candleholder
• Large Decoupage Pumpkin
• Twine Wrapped Vase DIY
• Pattern Painted On A Pumpkin DIY
• Beautiful Blue And White Chinoiserie Pumpkin DIY
• Guided Pumpkin DIY
• Fringed Burlap Table Runner Tutorial
• Easy Fall/Thanksgiving Placemats From A Fall Throw Blanket
• Pinecone And Acorn Flower Napkin Ring DIY

Create A Simple DIY Fall Centerpiece

Creating one beautiful, simple fall centerpiece like on a dining room table or other flat surface is far more economical than peppering a room with lots of small fall tchotches!

A well-crafted centerpiece can become the focal point of the space, instantly adding beauty without the need for adding a lot of other decor. By focusing on a single area, you can invest in high-quality items that make a significant impact. Reusing items from previous centerpieces or incorporating natural elements like pinecones and branches keep a fall centerpiece reasonably priced.

Create something as simple as Mason Jars Filled With Fall Blooms, or go a little bigger to create a Textural Fall Dough Bowl.

Make sure you also check out The Ultimate Guide To Fall Centerpieces.

This approach will allow you to celebrate the beauty of the fall season and create a charming atmosphere without overspending on elaborate room-wide decorations.

Shop For Fall Must-Haves On Sale

Shopping sales for fall decor is an economical way to take advantage of discounted prices on seasonal items. Retailers now offer discounts on decor throughout the season! By being strategic and shopping during sales events, you can find high-quality items at a fraction of their original cost or at least at a price you are more willing to pay. This allows you to dress up your home with pretty decor and add to the fall stash of decor you already have.

With these 10 budget-friendly ideas, you can infuse your home with the spirit of autumn while being mindful of your finances.

Click On The Video For More Fall Inspiration

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to decorate for fall?

Simple is best. Use lots of organics and texture. And bring organic things outdoors in.

How can I decorate for fall without spending money?

Here are a few ideas: use free fall printables, use what you already have, use fall elements you can scavenge, and use flowers like mums and hydrangeas from your yard.

What is the earliest you can decorate for fall?

Starting fall decorating is a personal preference. However, most people decorate after Labor Day, sometime in September.